Monday, November 10, 2014

Liebster Award

Hi Everyone!
Happy November Blizzard…
School was closed for us today do to the storm. I spent the day cozying with my two littles, relaxing on the couch, organizing a bit, finishing some school projects, and playing outside in the snow!




It has been a busy day – when I went to check my email tonight I saw that Brittany from Tickled Pink in Primary had nominated me for The Liebster Award! I am just TICKLED that she even noticed me! J



 The Liebster Award is given to new bloggers with less than 200 followers. It's a great way to meet new bloggers that have great content, but just haven't been noticed yet! As part of the award, I get to answer 11 questions for you to get to know me better. Then I get to nominate 11 more blog that I love! Here we go...

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging?
I started blogging at the start of the 2014-2015 school year. I am a relatively new teacher and wanted to connect with other teachers: newbies, veteran, and everywhere in between! J

2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
Learning! I am constantly trying to figure out all things techy. The Internet is awesome though – I love that if I don’t know how to do something, I can Google it and have a YouTube tutorial in 2 seconds! (I do this A LOT…)

3. Is there something you learned late in your blog journey you wished you knew before?
It is all still so new! I wish I knew lots of things right now – but it will come J …

4. What is your favorite past time other than blogging?
Oh my goodness… This is my first year at a new school, I am newly blogging, I have a toddler and a baby, and a hard working hubby. We have very limited “free” time, and when we do, we are almost too tired to do anything. When we do have energy, we love to go exploring with our new camera. We also love to stay up late and binge watch Netflix after our kids go to sleep. We (I) love: Orange is the New Black, Revenge, Breaking Bad, and Call the Midwife!

5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog?
It depends! I have been working on TpT products as I need them in my classroom. I have been trying to post some of my own resources but also some fun seasonal items to get my name out there. I probably spend 5 hours on my blog per week – sometimes way more. J

6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?
I have learned SO MUCH from other bloggers. I work with really great people but we don’t often just get the chance to sit down and REALLY look into each other’s classroom. With great blog posts, I feel as if I really am visiting a classroom!
I also love seeing great ideas for the home, organizational ideas, DIY projects, etc. It is also fun to get to know these virtual people and pretend like they are my friends – hopefully someday they will be! J

7. Where does your blog inspiration come from?
When I got my first teaching job out of college, I had the most amazing mentor who had started blogging and selling her resources on TpT. I luckily got to inherit some of her resources and thought how fun – maybe I could try this! So after 2 years of mulling it over, I finally got the courage/urge to try! I have always been an artistic/creative gal and this is just such a fun & useful outlet.
I also love to follow the bloggers we all love to follow: the ones who kind of set the path: Kindergarten Smiles, Miss Kindergarten, Kinder-Craze, The Moffatt Girls, The First Grade Parage, etc!

8. Which post that you've written are you most proud of?
I have been creating homework calendars for my Kindergarten families. In my Halloween Post you can read all about it – PS they are freebies!

9. Is there any post you have been planning to do, but have postponing it for a while now?
Haha like 100 different posts… We’ll get there someday when I get my 78723jkjasdf together.

10. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?
Connecting with others, educating myself and others, and using my creative outlet on something productive!

11. Which recipe, project, or idea on my blog would you most likely to try yourself?

Brittany from Tickled in Pink has these great Fluency and Fitness – movement paired with learning. The product looks great. I will have to check it out! J


Here are my nominees for the Liebster Award:
I know you all mostly because I instal-stalk you! :)


To those nominated, here are the rules:
1. In your post, link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and "shout out."
2. Answer the 11 questions given to you (the ones I answered above).
3. Nominate 11 blogs of your choice that each have less than 200 followers. Provide them with 11 questions to answer or have them answer the questions above.
4. Let your nominees know that they've been nominated and provide them with a link to your post so that they can accept.
5. Send your nominator a link to your post so that s/he can learn more about you as well! (You can just put your post link in the comments below!)                 



Saturday, November 8, 2014

Sight Word Turkey Craft

Brrrrr! November is here...

It has been a chilly few days here in MN. However, mittens & warm drinks get me in the mood for Christmas! Before Christmas though we get to do Thanksgiving (pre-Christmas). We have already started talking about the thanksgiving story and turkeys in my kindergarten classroom. Have you?

Here is a cute turkey craft that is "justifiable" because it incorporates sight words. Click on the picture for the link. Happy Turkey day (anticipation) everyone! 



Happy November Everyone!

xoxokindergarten


Saturday, November 1, 2014

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!
I hope your night was filled with spooks and endless treats! Our family had the most fun and magical night! Here is a glimpse of what we did. My daughter Penny is 2 and has always been obsessed with Frozen. When Trygve was born, she would cry in the night and ask for “fro-nen” and would fall back asleep to it as it was our only survival tool with two kids under two! She can now sing along to all of the songs and she just is my little frozen girl. When we moved, her daycare provider at the time gave her an Elsa dress as a going away present (how thoughtful) and Penny loves it! As cliché as it may be, Penny just had to be Elsa this Halloween – so the rest of the family followed suit!

Here is our family dressed as the Frozen characters:





I hope you had an excellent night too with your families! I can’t believe we are already to November! Time just flies so fast. Here is a November homework calendar freebie. I send this home with families for extra practice and to build a homework routine. Click on the picture for the link to TpT.






Enjoy the weekend! Happy November! J



xoxokindergarten

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Nature Trays

Hi everyone!
It’s been wild here! I feel like I haven’t really had a chance to check in and let you know what I’ve been up to! Last week our kinders went on an outdoor field trip to explore MN nature and learn about trees. We had the best guides – the teachers basically sat back and made sure all the kids made it back on the bus! ;)

I wanted to share one of the great ideas I learned from the trip:




These are “Nature Trays” – the students each got an egg carton to walk around and collect smooth, fuzzy, soft, etc. items found on a prairie! What a great way to explore nature. I ran into a mom at target and she said her daughter came straight home and started taking all the eggs out and setting them on the counter one by one. She ended up hard-boiling a few so her daughter could explore the back yard! Sweet little kinders!
J



Happy fall to everyone!


xoxokindergarten

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Batty for Bats

Hi Everyone!

Happy MEA to MN teachers! I am going to be busy-busy over the break. On Friday, my cousin is getting married in the Twin Cities. My brother and I were asked to sing at the ceremony! Then on Saturday, we are headed to Rochester for my grandpa in-law’s birthday party! Lots going on – wish we had more time to rest but I am pumped to see everyone.

Next week I am going to be doing some bats, spiders, pumpkins, and pre-halloween fun! 

Check out my Batty for Bats printables!



http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Batty-for-Bats-1479668


I also love singing “Vowel-Bat” by Shari Sloane with my students and working on the short vowel sounds! 

Wishing everyone a relaxed weekend and a spooooky October!


xoxokindergarten